To think new builds are too small

I agree on that! All of the 3 bed houses we saw that were older had 2 good size doubles and then one tiddly box room. That said there was potential to extend as the plot of land was bigger.

what would you say is a 4 bed with the footprint of a 3 bed.

new builds are definitely premium priced

I've got a 2300sq ft 5 bed 5 year old new build. All rooms are massive and we are having to down size to buy another house.
All the older houses we are looking at (70s, 80s and 90s) are tiny in comparison to our current house. It's miserable how small UK housing is both old and new.

Agreed, I was in Italy recently, the apartments were a depressing sight, run down, in need of painting and repair, washing hanging over balconies, satellite dishes, they only thing they had going for them was at least it was sunny.

I think it depends. We viewed some new builds that had good room sizes and layouts. However a lot were ‘4-bedroom’ was had the footprint of a 3-bed house and two of the bedrooms would be teeny box like things. But the price would reflect it being 4-bedroom 🙄

That said a lot of the detached and semi-detached houses round my town that were built 1930s-ish seem to have two enourmous doubles then one absolutely tiny box room. They always only have one toilet as well which is a big no from me.

We had a new build , it was very big and spacious . Surely it just depends on your budget ?

For people going on about apartment living and culture on the continent, do you actually know any spanish (as an example) apartment owners and the utter shambles that most of the arrangements are, you cant get anyone out of them, people dont pay up for the service charges, arguments go on for years about communal areas and updating them even to legal requirements, the noise, smells, rubbish arrangements, personality clashes etc etc

Be careful what you wish for

Yep. We've just helped DD buy a modern, one bedroom flat in a city centre with her boyfriend. It's very cute with views over the river, but there is zero storage. It already had a small footprint that has now been made even smaller because of having to install wardrobes in bedroom, cupboards in bathroom and hall, shelving everywhere.

its not a generalisation about old houses, it’s a fact that our housing stock in the UK is of a poor quality, much poorer than on the continent and other places like Australia. This is particularly pertinent for the rental sector.

the ‘bit of an update’ is or can be cost prohibitive for a lot of buyers, especially first time buyers hence the government backed schemes that have been run (because it is hard to get on the housing ladder)

it’s also a fact that there is a shortage of houses, particularly social housing (thanks in part to right to buy and new social houses not being built). The only solution to this is new builds.

saying that there should be pressure on developers to build better quality houses but ultimately private entities only care about one thing… profit.

That's samw generalisation about old houses aa people do about new builds.
I had 3 bed ex council semi. Insulated and enetgy costs of mine wereless than most of people I knew. No mould, kepg temper well etc. Old houses just need bit of update and they work just fine. It was also about 3x cheaper at the time than nearby cheapest newbuild.

This isn’t a relevant comparison? I’m talking about detached new builds being built close together, not terraced houses.

New builds being close together is what would put me off buying one. I personally wouldn’t consider living in a terraced house, regardless of how many there are.

Another mean spirited thread essentially mocking those who living in new build houses. It’s giving, ‘let them eat cake’

not all new builds are tiny. Mine isn’t tiny nor massive, it’s 1300 sq ft and a 4 bed.

people have different budgets and different resources available to them. Like them or loathe them, there is a chronic housing shortage in the UK and the stock housing (aka older houses already built are of really poor quality) and new builds are the only way to solve that.

I definitely think it’s certain new builds rather than all. I was really surprised by the storage in mine (in addition to the double garage) - there’s a double door narrow width cupboard in the kitchen (hoovers, ironing boards etc), a massive understairs cupboard, a double door width fully shelved airing cupboard on the landing, and then a whole wall of fitted wardrobes in the master bedroom (other bedrooms you could have with extra cost). Much more than either of the period houses I had before the new build.

I saw some hate of aquare rooms on older builda. Floor plans like this make me giggle. Like what the heck were they smoking😂

They are only recommendations, not legal requirements. Housing associations stick to them, private developers don't. There are minimum dimensions for bedrooms.

The flat/houses sizes recommended depend on the number of people, number of bedrooms, number of storeys and include storage space.

This!

I live in a pretty huge new build….

It’s not all new builds, it’s new builds at the more affordable end of the market.

It's not just new builds though. I live in a house built around 1812. Two bedrooms, one had a large double bed and a single bedside cabinet and there's not room for anything else, one has a small double, and that's just so I can get out of bed on either side. One bedside cabinet and I had to cut down a chair to put the other side as all cabinets were too wide.

On the plus side, I am allowed to keep a pig in my garden should I so choose (very small garden though).

So? I don’t get your point, someone on an average income should expect an average house so an average 3 bed semi not a large 6 bed detached at 1.3 million.

According to this the average new build is 68m2 but the average UK home is 96m2 about 40% bigger
Britain's Shrinking Homes: What Size are Homes in Your Region?

It adds greatly to everyone’s stress levels.

Some are tiny. Some are not.

Mine is pretty large.

But the largest proportion of British houses are terraced.

Remember it is profits first for house builders. They would sell you a cardboard box and call it a spacious studio

That's why no one ever leaves them , mine is ex council and it's so big it's ridiculous, but it was built when families were a lot bigger , the houses and plots on the older ones are very good value for money.

Some are really small but there are lots of big ones too. Old houses can have this problem too. My Edwardian terrace has what is technically a third bedroom but it is tiny and only just fits a single bed and the master bedroom is enormous so the proportions are all off!

This is mine (built 2007)
Apparently the builders didn't like square rooms or something
I got the awkward corner in bed 1 boxed in with doors for storage